Huawei president Ren Zhengfei, leader of the Shenzhen-based telecommunication solution provider and smartphone maker, delivered his vision of the future to his Consumer Business Group management team during a recent luncheon, according to a Tencent report published on 18 April 2014.

"Consumer Business Group should remain on its own course, you are what you are!” said Ren. He argued despite large sales volumes, especially from e-commerce sites, the team has to focus on cultivating consumer viscosity by providing them with reliable products.

While acknowledging that Huawei’s smartphone business must learn from Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi, Ren reminded the team they can't just follow these competitors and blindly chase sales instead of profitability.

“For our online stores, don’t tell me how many phones you have sold anymore, but how big the profit margin is,” noted Ren.

“We will invest the profit into scientific research to build the theoretical base for the next ten or twenty years…we are already marching on the right path now,” said Ren.

According to another Tencent report on 22 April, Huawei ranks as the third largest smartphone maker in the world in terms of sales, accounting for 4.9 percent of the global market. Its business in China increased by 20 percent in 2013.